Sri Lanka can quickly return to violence and human rights abuses, unless decisive international action is taken, warned the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Civil Rights Groups.
In a speech to the human rights council on Wednesday, Michelle Bachelet is expected to issue a severe warning that the Sri Lankan government has “closed the door” to end impunity for previous abuses and is facing a return to state repression of civil society and the militarization of public institutions.
In January, the UN high commissioner for human rights expressed concern about “worrying trends” in the country since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in 2019.
In a hard-hitting report published last month, which will be formally presented to the council, Bachelet documented the deepening of impunity and the obstruction of justice for atrocities committed during the brutal civil war of 1983-2009.
In the report, Bachelet said: “Sri Lanka’s current trajectory sets the stage for the recurrence of policies and practices that have given rise to serious human rights violations.”
Photography: Eranga Jayawardena / AP
Since 2020, the former army officer Rajapaksa has appointed at least 28 military or ex-military personnel and intelligence officers to senior positions, his report concluded. Some are senior officials involved in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final years of the civil war, including army chief Shavendra Silva and defense secretary Kamal Gunaratne.
Rajapaksa, who was secretary of defense when his brother Mahinda was president from 2005 to 2015, oversaw the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009. During this period, illegal killings and enforced disappearances were widespread. It is estimated that about 40,000 Tamils were killed.
The previous government had taken some steps in relation to war crimes accountability and courts, but stopped after Rajapaksa was elected in 2019. Last year, the government said it would no longer honor its commitments with a consensus agreed in 2015 to ensure the truth, justice and reparation and a mechanism for accountability for past abuses.
Failure to deal with past atrocities continues to have “devastating effects on tens of thousands of family members from all communities,” who persist in seeking justice, redress and truth about the fate of their loved ones, said Bachelet.
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Several UN officials and independent experts, including four former high commissioners, signed a letter describing Bachelet’s report as a “compelling case” for decisive international action and praising its focus on prevention.
They wrote: “In 2009, the international community failed in Sri Lanka. We must not fail again. “
Bachelet’s report documents a pattern of surveillance and harassment by civil society organizations and human rights defenders, which was echoed by activists who spoke to the Guardian. One said that the situation of human rights and the rule of law was getting worse “on a daily basis”.
Dharisha Bastians, a Sri Lankan journalist who wrote to the New York Times before being forced into exile by persecutions and threats shortly after the 2019 elections, said she hoped UN member states would heed Bachelet’s appeal.
“None of us expected this repression to happen so quickly,” said Bastians. “It is very worrying and, unfortunately, it is a pattern that we have seen before. Sri Lanka is at a critical point.
“It is clear that this government has no interest in advancing the cause of justice. On the contrary, every effort has been made by this government to obstruct justice. The president created a political victimization commission that exonerated all military personnel accused of human rights violations, without even hearing the victims or knowing about the investigations.
“In some cases, the police are already on trial. The attorney general is being pressured to drop the cases, witnesses are being pressured to retract the evidence and families are being persecuted ”.
It was a “tragedy” for the families of the missing, she said, urging the international community to act. “The continued focus on impunity for attacks against journalists will help to keep my colleagues safer in Sri Lanka. The spotlight would send a message to the Sri Lankan government that the world will not look away ”.
Activists and activists said that intimidation and harassment of civil society in Sri Lanka led to the shrinking of civilian space and had a “scary effect”.
Shreen Saroor, a rights activist who works with women’s groups in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, said the groups were forced to disclose information, including home addresses and employees’ phone numbers, and were asked to provide bank details to verify financing source.
“They want all charitable organizations and NGOs to register with the national secretariat of non-governmental organizations, which is subordinate to the secretary of defense,” said Saroor.
The defense secretary is Gunaratne, who was a unit commander at the end of the war and is accused of war crimes.
“They are forcing us not to accept foreign funding unless we register with the secretary of defense and we will need approval from the defense ministry for the work we do,” said Saroor. She was informed that her work with communities affected by the war is now “illegitimate”.
Melissa Dring, campaign director for the Campaign for Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka, based in the United Kingdom, said the situation on the ground for human rights “is getting worse by the day.”
Time was running out for victims and survivors, she said. Since the start of roadside protests by families of missing persons, 78 people have died, she said.
“The resilience and determination of these protesters, most of whom are women, who have continued their protests for years and have often been intimidated and harassed by security forces and other state officials, is incredible,” she said.
Meenakshi Ganguly, director of South Asia for Human Rights Watch, said: “If the international community now fails to act, starting with a strong resolution on the UN human rights council, there is every chance that there will be a repeat, even an increase in the targeting of activists, critics, victims’ families and minority communities. “
Amnesty International said in a recent report that it witnessed “alarming repression” in the civic space and in the targeting of minorities, including Muslim communities, which represent 10% of Sri Lanka’s population.
Earlier this month, a group of Muslim families filed a complaint to the UN human rights committee about Sri Lanka’s policy of forced cremation of all those confirmed or suspected of having died with Covid-19, saying it violates their religious rights. and is causing “countless misery”.
The Sri Lankan government considered Bachelet’s conclusions about the credible allegations of war crimes against important government figures to be “unfounded”.